HutchCC Sports Information
PRATT – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team had a season-high 10 total team blocks to power the Blue Dragons to a 3-0 Jayhawk West victory over the Pratt Beavers on Wednesday Night at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena.
The strong net play of sophomores Tatyana Ndekwe and Patricia Joseph helped Hutchinson sweep Pratt 25-20, 25-19, 25-10.
Hutchinson improves to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons will play host to the Midwest Superstore/Blue Dragon Volleyball Classic this weekend at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The Dragons will play Frank Phillips College at 1 p.m. and No. 6 Indian Hills at 5 p.m. on Friday and Odessa College at 11 a.m. and No. 2 Iowa Western at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Ndekwe led the Blue Dragon block party with six total blocks (1 solo, 5 assist) and Joseph had five total blocks (1 solo, four assist). Freshman Leonie Wienkaemper had three block assists. The Blue Dragons had four blocks in a dominated third set, four coming from Joseph.
Sophomore Page Hiebert just missed a double-double with a team-high nine kills and 13 digs. Freshman Cassidy Crites and Wienkaemper had seven kills each. Ndekwe and Joseph had five and four kills each.
Sophomore setter Katie Jorn had 27 assists and two kills. Freshman setter Payton Gawith had eight assists.
Freshman libero Raychel Reed has 13 digs and two service aces.
The Blue Dragons used a 12-3 run – Hutch reeled off seven in a row in that span – to take a 16-8 lead in the first set after a Wienkaemper kill. The Beavers then scored 11 of next 16 points and pulled within 21-19 after a Blue Dragon attack error. But Ndekwe put the Dragons on her shoulders with a kill and two blocks in a set-clinching 4-1 run.
Tied at 7 in the second set, the Blue Dragons put together a10-1 run to take a 17-8 lead after a Claira Creach service ace. Again the Beavers chipped away with a 6-1 run and pulled within 20-16. A Hiebert cross-court kill stopped that advance and back-to-back kills from Wienkaemper closed out the set and gave the Blue Dragons a 2-0 match lead.
Hutchinson raced out to a 14-3 lead in the third set, but there was no Beaver comeback attempt. Pratt had just one two-point run in the set as the Blue Dragons sided out on 9 of 10 attempts in the final set. Hiebert had five kills in the third set to go with two block assists. Joseph was also dominant with three kills and four total blocks.